Pegasus and the Rise of the Titans (Pegasus #5) (11 page)

23

‘Pegasus!’

Emily dashed to the stricken stallion. Pegasus was crumpled on the roof, completely still. Chrysaor was squealing to wake him up, but the stallion was unconscious.

‘Joel, Paelen, help me with him!’

Everyone gathered around Pegasus. He was still breathing, but it was laboured.

‘He used his last reserve to save me,’ Chiron said. ‘He needs a safe place to rest and recover.’

Now that the immediate danger was over, they were able to take in their surroundings. They were on the large roof of a building. Other buildings rose taller around them. Some still had their lights on and they all seemed to have balconies. But with the high winds and heavy rain, no one was out in the storm.

Emily rose and peered through the glass doors. ‘It doesn’t look like anyone’s home. If we get this door open, maybe we can move Pegasus inside before the sun comes up.’

Chiron clopped over to the glass door. ‘We must never assume we are alone.’ He reached for the handle and grunted. The lock snapped and the door slid open. ‘Paelen, you are an excellent thief, go in and see if there is anyone inside. But be careful. If there are, try not to be seen.’

‘I am no longer a thief!’ Paelen uttered angrily. ‘Why will no one believe that?’ But still, he slipped past Chiron and entered the apartment.

Outside, Emily looked around. ‘I really hope no one heard or saw us. That wasn’t a quiet landing. All we need now is to have to face the police!’

‘We will deal with that as it comes,’ Chiron said. ‘Pegasus is our first priority.’

Paelen reappeared. ‘It is empty. We are alone.’

‘All right, everyone,’ Chiron said. ‘We must get Pegasus inside. Paelen, tie one of those vines to Chrysaor. The rest of you, get hold of another line. We are going to have to drag him in.’

While everyone strained to move Pegasus, Emily wished more than ever that she had her powers back to help lift the stallion.

After much effort, they succeeded in getting Pegasus inside. Paelen closed the glass door and shut the curtains before Joel switched on the lights.

‘Uh oh,’ Joel said. He was standing by a desk. ‘This isn’t an apartment.’ He held up a welcome folder. ‘It’s the Outrigger Reef on the Beach Hotel.’

‘So?’ Paelen said.

‘It’s a hotel room. Anyone can book in here at any time.’

‘As I said, we shall deal with it if they do,’ Chiron said darkly. ‘But right now, Pegasus is our main concern. Emily, Fawn, please see if you can find something to cover him. Joel, Paelen, help me settle Pegasus’s wings so he is not lying on them. We do not want to worry about broken bones as well.’

Emily soon discovered that they were not just in a hotel room, but an exclusive suite that was larger than her New York apartment had been. There were three bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and the large living area where Pegasus and Chrysaor were resting. Emily put two large pillows beneath the stallion’s head and carried in a pan full of warm soapy water to wash the blood from his nose and muzzle. Without her powers to heal him, this was all she could do to help him feel better.

While she worked, Joel, Paelen and Fawn went back out on the patio area and cleaned up the mess they’d made with the crash landing.

‘Well, we’ve got great ocean views here,’ Joel said, returning. He looked at Chiron. ‘You did a number on the room beneath us. You bent the railing and smashed the glass doors on the balcony. How hard did you hit it?’

‘Hard enough to give me a pounding headache,’ Chiron said, rubbing his bruised forehead. ‘And I have no doubt I will be pulling glass from my flanks for some time.’

‘At least you’re OK,’ Emily said. ‘I’m thankful we all are.’

Joel nodded. ‘But for how long? By the looks of it, we couldn’t have crashed in a busier tourist area. Keeping hidden is going to be tough.’

‘Hopefully we won’t be here that long.’ Emily stood and carried the pot of used water to the kitchen and poured it out. ‘I can feel the pull of the shard. We are very close to it. I’m sure tomorrow we’ll find it. Then I’ll heal Pegasus and we can go.’

‘Until then I suggest we rest,’ Chiron said. ‘That last bit was very difficult. We are all exhausted.’ The large Centaur settled himself in front of the hotel door. No one was going to get in with him lying there.

Joel and Paelen refused to go to a bedroom and settled on one of the sofas in the living area. They turned on the television but after a few minutes Joel was sleeping soundly.

Fawn was fascinated by the moving pictures and listened with great interest as Paelen explained about television. But as with Joel, fatigue quickly overcame them and they were soon asleep.

Emily was lying on the floor beside Pegasus. She was listening to his breathing. It was still laboured and sounded like he had inhaled half the ocean. She feared that his lungs were filling with water or blood. The journey had been too long for him and he had pushed himself beyond his limits. What had it cost him?

Watching the flickering television, as fear and worry pressed down on her, Emily soon drifted to sleep . . .

24

Lorin was anxious to speak with Venus to learn more about Emily. But every attempt she made to visit the prisoners was blocked by security. In fact, Saturn had posted even more guards on the route leading to the lowest level of Tartarus to stop her from descending. He instructed them not to talk to her about the prisoners or the fate of the wounded night dwellers.

With nothing left to do, Lorin made her way back to her cell. She noticed guards were posted everywhere she went and watched her constantly. Everyone called her a Titan – said that she was one of them. But she wasn’t being treated like one. In fact, she began to feel like a prisoner among her own kind. She wasn’t even allowed up to the surface any more.

Saturn had said he had a special plan just for her, and that she was crucial to the retaking of Olympus, so she must be protected, hence the guards. But he wouldn’t say what that plan was or outline her part in it.

Lorin tried talking to Phoebe about it, but her guardian kept insisting it was for her own good. But what good was coming from keeping her all but trapped in her cell? What’s more, Phoebe had changed. It wasn’t anything she’d said or done, but it was the way she looked at her. Almost as if she was frightened of her.

Lorin settled down on her bed. She needed to find Emily more than ever now. She had to find a way out of here. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out all the noise and sounds of the others moving around. Before long, she slipped into sleep.

Emily!

From the moment she fell asleep, Lorin felt the connection again. Emily was also sleeping – she could sense it. But in her sleep, she felt Emily’s fear. Something was very wrong.

Lorin followed the strand of connection and was soon deep inside Emily’s mind. As the connection solidified, she recognized another presence within her. It was a small and fading light, but held echoes that were so familiar to her.

Echoes that
were
her!

That was it! That was what Emily had taken from her. Not just power, but all the things that made her whole. As Lorin probed deeper, a name came to her. A name she recognized – the name of the ‘someone’ she used to be.

‘I was Riza . . .’

Suddenly it all made sense. She was once someone else. Someone very ancient and very powerful.

‘Give her back!’ Lorin demanded of Emily. ‘You cannot keep her!’

‘I didn’t take her,’ Emily cried. ‘Riza is part of me, I was born with her. You can’t take her, she is me!’

‘Then I shall find you and take you too! I need to be whole again.’

‘Why?’ Emily challenged. ‘So you can kill more people? I know what you did, Lorin. The night dwellers were innocent – you had no right to hurt them.’

‘I did as Saturn commanded,’ Lorin said, shocked that Emily knew what she had done.

‘Saturn is a monster. He ruined his own world and killed many of his own people in the hopes of destroying Olympus. Ask Phoebe, she’ll tell you. All he wants is power. And now you’ve killed for him. That makes you just as much of a monster as he is!’

‘Stop it!’ Lorin shouted. ‘You are just trying to confuse me. Saturn is not evil, he cares for us. Jupiter is the evil one. He imprisoned us here. He is the one who would destroy us if he could. I want Riza back. I need to be complete.’

‘By killing people?’ Emily cried. ‘You may have Riza’s power, but you are not her. She is gentle and kind. The Xan protected lives, not destroyed them. You will never be her!’

‘Yes, I will!’ Lorin cried. ‘I will find you, Emily, I will find you and I will free Riza. We will be whole again and you will be gone forever!’

Lorin pressed deeper into Emily’s mind. She pushed through a barrier Emily fought to protect and saw – Pegasus.

‘Pegasus.’ Lorin inhaled sharply at the sight of the winged stallion. ‘He is beautiful. When I am whole, Pegasus will be mine!’

‘No!’ Emily shouted. ‘Pegasus belongs to no one. He is free. He will never be yours – I will stop you.’

Lorin probed even deeper into Emily, and saw memories and life that fascinated her. She saw her mother, her father, Diana, Joel . . . But then she saw a face that stopped her in her tracks. A face with a crooked grin and dark eyes that sparkled with pure mischief.

‘Who is that?’ Lorin asked.

‘Get out of my head!’ Emily shouted.

‘It is
my
head, Emily. All the things you have, all people you care for, should be mine, not yours.’

Lorin pushed further. ‘Paelen . . .’

‘Leave me alone!’ Emily shouted.

Now Lorin was more determined than ever to find Emily. She had a family and friends who cared for her; everything that Lorin desired most. ‘Where are you?’

‘I’ll never tell you.’

Lorin fought through Emily’s defences and discovered that she and Pegasus were looking for something very important. Lorin inhaled. There it was!

‘You want that Flame-shard, but it belongs to me!’ Lorin cried.

‘You can’t have it!’ Emily exclaimed. ‘It’s part of Riza and she’s part of me. All you have are her powers. Her heart and consciousness reside within me. I will fight you to protect her!’

‘I know you have no powers left,’ Lorin said. She saw the long journey that Emily and the others had taken. They went to a world called Xanadu and then to Earth. After a long flight, they made it to a place called Hawaii.

‘Outrigger Reef on the Beach Hotel . . .’ Lorin said slowly, reading from Emily’s mind. ‘See? You cannot hide from me, Emily. I see everything. You are in Hawaii and I am coming for you. Riza, Pegasus and Paelen will soon be mine!’

25

‘No!’ Emily howled.

A painful slap across her face pulled Emily from her slumber. Her face felt hot and wet. She wiped her nose and saw red, then gazed up into the concerned faces of Joel, Paelen and Fawn. She started to rock back and forth, chiding herself. ‘I shouldn’t have slept. Why did I fall asleep? I’ve been so careful. But now I’ve ruined everything.’

‘Em, calm down.’ Joel handed her a towel for her nosebleed. ‘Talk to us. What happened?’

‘Because I slept, Lorin got into my head again. She knows everything, including why we’re here.’

Emily climbed to her feet and shakily crossed over to the window. She opened the curtains and blazing sunshine poured in. It was already day. Her encounter with Lorin must have lasted hours.

The others were waiting patiently for her to tell them more. ‘Her strength is growing.’ Emily turned back to them. ‘I couldn’t stop her. She knows I have no powers and how I need the shard to survive. She said she’s coming here to get me and free Riza.’ Emily paused. ‘She’s also coming here to take Pegasus and . . .’

‘And?’ Chiron asked.

Emily’s eyes settled on Paelen. ‘And you.’

‘Me?’ Paelen cried. ‘What do you mean, me?’

‘She saw you in my mind. She saw all of you. But the moment Lorin saw you, that was all she would focus on.’

‘Me? But – but why?’

‘I’m not sure. All I know is that she wants you,’ Emily answered darkly. ‘And she’s coming here to kill me and take you.’

‘Well, she cannot have me!’ Paelen insisted. ‘I do not want this Lorin – especially if she wants to hurt you.’

‘She won’t care what you want, Paelen. She has so much power. More than I ever had. I don’t think she even realizes what she can do. But one thing is clear. She doesn’t understand that killing the night dwellers was wrong, because Saturn told her to do it.’

‘This is very disturbing indeed,’ Chiron said, rubbing his chin. ‘You say she does not yet understand all her powers? If Saturn does, and if he can control her enough to make her kill, that makes Lorin the ultimate weapon against Olympus and all the other worlds along the Solar Stream.’

Emily heard echoes in her memory of being called the same thing. Agent B once claimed that she was the
ultimate weapon
. But she had been raised to care and see all life as precious. Lorin hadn’t. Saturn was teaching her. And that meant she was more dangerous than could ever be imagined.

Emily shook her head. ‘It’s so strange. While I was with her, Lorin felt like a very young child that was never taught right from wrong. She just follows Saturn’s orders. It’s lucky she still doesn’t know how to use her powers fully. She is obsessed with finding me and taking Riza back. I can’t reason with her. She just wants what she wants without considering the damage she can do.’

Chiron nodded. ‘Then we still may have some time. If she does not understand her powers, she will need to use the Solar Stream to get here.’

‘Then we’ve got to find that shard!’ Joel said. He focused on Emily. ‘You need to be up to full power when you face her.’

‘I know,’ Emily agreed. ‘But even then, I’m frightened she’ll still have more power than I do.’

Pegasus remained asleep on the floor. His breathing was steadier but still sounded like his chest was full of fluid. Chrysaor had recovered much quicker and was awake and hungry for all the ambrosia Emily could pull from her pouch.

While he ate, Emily and Joel stepped out on to the patio area to check what damage they had done during the night. Emily shielded her eyes from the sun that was directly overhead. ‘I thought Las Vegas was hot. But this place is crazy hot.’

‘At least the breeze helps,’ Joel offered as his dark hair blew into his eyes. He inhaled deeply. ‘It’s beautiful here. I wish we were here for a different reason.’

The only sign of their struggle was a large dent in the railing around the edge of the patio. From where they stood, leaning over the side, they couldn’t see all the damage Chiron had caused to the balcony or glass doors on the floor beneath them, but what little they saw was bad.

The ocean sparkled ahead of them. Small boats, surfers and bathers dotted the clear blue water. A shallow beach with palm trees and people lounging in the sun was just below. Over to the right they overlooked a flat roof that was another part of the hotel.

They stood watching the activity on the beach below them. A young family was playing in the sand, building a sandcastle and digging a moat that they filled with water. The air was fresh and clean and the ocean calm after the raging storm the night before.

To the far right, the beach continued beyond their hotel until it stopped at a marina containing large sailing boats. To the left the beach circled round and ended in a mountain. Everywhere they looked they saw large hotels. There was a place just down the beach where tourists could rent surf boards. The whole area was filled with people. Lots and lots of people.

‘You were right,’ Emily said. ‘We couldn’t have picked a busier place to land.’ She turned and looked back, further inland. ‘Those mountains behind us would have been easier to hide in.’

Joel nodded. ‘We’re lucky we made it this far. I thought for sure Pegasus was going to crash in the ocean. But this hotel isn’t safe. We were lucky the suite was empty, but I checked the hotel brochure. This place is a resort. This suite won’t be empty for long. We’ve got to get out of here before we’re caught.’

They heard children’s laughter and the sounds of footsteps behind them. On their guard, Emily and Joel turned instantly to see a little boy and girl running along a narrow aisle that ran between their suite and the railing along the roof edge. The children rushed past Joel and Emily and climbed up on to the first rung of the railing at the end.

‘Gregor, Elsa, be careful. Get down from there!’ A young American woman ran up behind them. She slowed down when she saw Emily and Joel. ‘I am so sorry to disturb you. We’ve got the suite behind yours and these two monsters wanted to see the ocean. They’re not happy with our view of Honolulu.’

‘Of course,’ Joel said. ‘We do have a beautiful view from here.’

Emily saw the woman frown as she took in their tunics. She looked as if she was about to say something when her son distracted her.

‘Mom, look,’ he squealed. ‘There it is. There’s Diamond Head!’

The boy must have been about ten, with a sweet round face and warm chocolate-brown eyes that were flashing with excitement. His sister had the same eyes, but had long blonde hair. She couldn’t have been older than five or six.

‘That’s Diamond Head,’ the boy said knowingly to Emily. ‘It’s a volcano.’

Emily followed his pointing finger to the strange mountain rising beside the ocean. It did look different from the other mountains behind them. The top came to a sharp peak on the ocean side that sloped down along the uppermost rim of the crater. It was only a short distance from their hotel. ‘Really, that’s a volcano?’

The boy nodded. ‘We’re going to see it tomorrow, aren’t we?’ he asked his mother.

‘Of course we are. But it’s not really a volcano any more. It won’t erupt. We’ll be perfectly safe.’ The woman approached her two children and shooed them away from the railing. ‘C’mon, you two, let’s get away from here. If you put on your swimsuits, we can head down to the beach.’

Gregor cheered and ran back the way he came with his sister in tow. Their mother smiled again. ‘I am sorry if they’ve troubled you. Enjoy your stay.’

‘We will, thanks,’ Joel said.

Emily closed her eyes and lifted her face to the hot sun. The pull of the shard was very strong. She looked back to the left and opened her eyes. ‘It’s that way. The shard is there.’

‘How far?’ Joel asked. ‘Is it before or after Diamond Head?’

Emily shook her head. ‘Neither. The shard is in Diamond Head.’